Thriving Kids Newsletter Discusses How to Promote Good Behavior in Children
The Child Mind Institute recently kicked off its Thriving Kids newsletter with the topic of how to promote good behavior in children.
The article noted that while managing a child’s behavior can be exhausting, there are simple strategies that can be employed to make a big difference.
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Thriving Kids noted that taking time out of each day to do something with a child that they enjoy can contribute to a healthy caregiver-child relationship and promotes good behavior. Children appreciate getting attention, which can include everything from asking about their day on the drive home from school or taking part in an activity together.
Setting clear expectations about the type of behavior that is expected helps to guide both the caregiver and child when undesirable behavior occurs. Expectations should be realistic and discussed with the child.
When a child exhibits good behavior, it should be acknowledged and rewarded. This increases the chance that the child will repeat good behavior in the future. On the other hand, parents should initiate consequences for unwanted behavior immediately after it happens. Consequences should be brief and consistent.
Lastly, caregivers should take a moment to reset. It is normal to become frustrated or upset with a child’s behavior. It can be helpful to take a breath, and caregivers can share with a child that they are taking a moment to let go of frustration before having a discussion about the behavior.
8 Tips for Promoting Good Behavior
Thriving Kids also provided eight tips for promoting good behavior in children. These include:
Taking care of the relationship - connecting with a child is important to build a relationship based on trust and respect; try to spend time daily fully engaged with the child in an activity they enjoy.
Set clear and realistic expectations - go over expectations for how a child is expected to behave in certain situations and review them when a child needs to demonstrate that behavior.
Catch them being good - Use specific praise when a child behaves appropriately, which will increase the likelihood that they’ll repeat the good behavior in the future.
Be thoughtful about consequences - try to make consequences immediate, brief, and consistent; try to return to “normal” as quickly as possible once the consequence is completed.
Avoid harsh discipline - consequences don’t need to upset children to work; it’s more important that consequences are consistently applied when unwanted behavior occurs.
Take a moment - if you notice yourself getting frustrated or upset with a child’s behavior, take a moment to calm down before responding.
Be a detective - rather than focusing on the behavior itself, dig deeper to try to figure out what might be behind it; the reason is not always simple or obvious, so look for patterns.
Talk when they’re calm - don’t try to reason with children during a meltdown; wait until things calm down to have a discussion, during which you listen to one another and share feelings.
To learn more, read Thriving Kids’ article on how to promote good behavior in children.